The Study On Fu Lei's Literal Arts Criticism

Fu Lei is a famous translation master of modern China. His great achievement in the translation field has been always appreciated. But actually he has also accomplished a great deal in the literary criticism field. Fu Lei's criticism is characterized by his lofty life credo, sensitive emotion, genuine gift and rich knowledge of different arts. A comprehensive and systematic research on Fu Lei's literary criticism can help to explore the details of the Chinese literature in the 20th century. At the same time, this research can offer some experiences and revelation to the development of Chinese literature.Fu Lei has been deeply affected by the traditional Confucius thoughts. He tends to see the life and art as a whole. He thinks that the personality of the subject should be the substantial elements of art. Fu Lei thinks that there are three most important factors in the creator's personality: first, the sincerity; second, the spiritual power which leads to goodness; third, the balance between reason and sensation through a transcending way. Fu Lei also requires that the artists should consistently exercise their professional skills. And this kind of exercise should be integrated with the cultivation of sentiment and upgrade of spirits. Therefore, the artists should on one hand inherit predecessor's experiences and absorb materials from the nature in order to create natural and lively works.On the appreciation of the macro art phenomenon, Fu Lei has been deeply affected by the French critic Taine. He has read and finally translated Taine's Philosophy of Art. Fu Lei mainly accepts the essence theory of race, environment and times. He tents to understand the original reason and developing rules of art in a comprehensive perspective. Fu Lei adopts three strategies in the applying of the theory: first, retrospect some literal and cultural phenomenon from effects to causes; second, interpret some artist's works from the personal experiences of the subjects; furthermore, he also attaches importance to the affection of some middle elements like religion.Fu Lei's literary criticism has taken Balzac's novels as paradigm and Taine's humanity as main characteristics. Fu Lei thinks that three conditions have to be meet before expressing human nature through the form of literature: the purpose of novel creation should be revealing characters' realistic meaning; the writers should have sympathy for their characters but also surpass the characters' emotion; a struggling life philosophy should be the source of understanding and reviewing the characters. Fu Lei also thinks that there are four basic requirements to meet in order to create a classic and typical character: first, the character should be logical and realistic; second, the extreme emotion of character should be expressed by disasters; third, the tragic aesthetic style should be realized by the "light and dark" skill; four, perfect details should be integrated with the plot and structure.Fu Lei's translation career has a great impact on his literal arts criticism. First, translation has affected his choosing and understanding of creative works; second, translation has enabled Fu lei reviewing the work's language from the micro perspective. He has gradually formed the basic conception of ideal Chinese language. And by wrestling with the words and sentences in the process of translation, he appreciates and interprets the meaning and style of the works; last but not least, translation has offered us a special perspective to appreciate his criticism. We get to know that Fu Lei's literature translation has experience a process from training to aesthetic judgment. His special habit and taste have been gradually formed by the translation. Furthermore, translation has offered him a position of interpreter to reflect on the criticism itself.Fu Lei's literal arts criticism has lofty and serious judging criteria, lively characteristics, independent spirits and broad academic backgrounds. His review and criticism achievement can be compared to the famous Beijing Review School in history. Fu Lei's criticism is outstanding not only for its special models but also for its fresh and lively modern elements.